


Somebody New

by cjbloomfield



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barson, Closure, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 00:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22306963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbloomfield/pseuds/cjbloomfield
Summary: Old flames. New love. Bad poetry. And closure.
Relationships: Olivia Benson/Elliot Stabler, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson, Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Somebody New

“Benson,” Olivia answered the phone, without checking the caller ID, something she’d grown accustomed to. As the moments past, Liv nearly forgets about the phone crutched between her ear and shoulder blade. “Hello?” She follows up curtly, the sound of uneven breathing sends chills down her spine.

“Olivia?” That voice. A voice she’d never forget. The voice that overpowered and second-guessed her for over a decade. She swallowed thickly. “Liv? C’mon. I know you’re there.” She sighed.

“Elliot Stabler.” The sound of his name rolling off her tongue nearly stung. It didn’t feel right anymore. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” The thick layer of sarcasm deeply ingrained in her tone.

“Olivia...I...I don’t even know where to begin.” She scoffed.

“How did you even get my number?” She raised an eyebrow, not that Stabler could necessarily see the action.

“You’re the captain and commanding officer of the Manhattan SVU, it’s pretty much public record.” He joked lightly. She could hear the corners of his mouth pulling into a small smile.

“Why now?” She pushed.

“Olivia. I know it’s been a while—“

“Try a decade, Elliot.” She retorted, cutting him off. “Why are you calling me? Is there something you actually need from me.” She rolled her eyes slightly.

“Look, I fucked up, Liv. I always made you a second priority. I Never gave you-never gave _us_ a chance.”

“Elliot. I’m not—no we’re not going to do this over the phone. I’m at work. I—no.” She inhaled deeply.

“Can we meet? Whenever you’re free? Are you free for lunch? Today?” She exasperatedly runs her fingers through her honey highlighted brown locks.

“Livvie!” Olivia’s head shoots up, a smile immediately takes over her face. “You’re late for lunch!” Rafael informs, while repeatedly tapping his wrist.

“No, no I’m not. Tomorrow. Noon, Forlini’s I have to go.” And with that, she ended their call.

“Jesus, Goldie Locks. Office Hours start in an hour and fifteen minutes.” He rolls his eyes, as he begins to gather her belongings.

“First off, stop calling me that in public, I have a squad that needs to respect me.Secondly, you aren’t wearing a watch. And lastly, the highlights _aren’t that bright.”_ She takes his hand in hers, her mood instantly lifting.

“You know ever since you became a blonde.” He jokes.

“I am not Blonde, Barba.” She warns. “You also love the highlights, you’ve only been gushing about them for years.” He pulls her closer to his side, moving his arm around her waist as they adventure out of the sixteenth precinct and into the bitter cold that is Manhattan’s January winter.

“Who were you on the phone with? They seemed to have your knickers in a twist.”

“Who still says knickers, Rafael?”

“The same man who wears suspenders _and_ a belt.” She rolls her eyes.

“It was, Elliot.” She responds lowly.

“Elliot? Who—Oh.” He slows his pace down. “ _The_ Elliot Stabler?” She nods softly. “What did _he_ want?” His voice is low now, not as confident as he was just two minutes prior.

“I assume to make some big grand gesture and weasel his way back into my life.” She simply shrugs, leaving out the fact that she didn’t give him much time to truly explain what he wanted before he came right out and practically asked for a chance at a romantic relationship. That was the last thing her boyfriend needed to hear.

“But after ten years? Really?” He’d seemed just as shocked as his significant other.

“That’s what I said.” She leaned into him as they neared their destination.

“So...” his voice trailed off. “I would understand if you wanted to give it a shot. You and Stabler I mean.” Insecurity evident in his voice, at this point they stopped walking. 

“Rafael Eduardo Barba. Have you finally lost your mind?” She chided. “We have been together for nearly four years. We share a home. We literally have a child together. _You_ are a father to my son. Why would I leave any of this for a man who walked out of my life and never looked back? Not even a simple call when I was kidnapped, _either time._ He wasn’t there when I was held at gunpoint in a townhouse, you were. Aside from you walking away, cheating, abusing me or our son, and death, there is nothing that can separate us.” She wraps her arms around his neck, leaving a slow-burning kiss on his lips.

“Lo siento, amor mío.” He pulled her back in for another warm gathering of their lips.

“You don’t have to apologize, Raf.” She leaned her forehead against his, before remembering they are on a public sidewalk. “He um, he admitted to never giving us a chance.” She put space between them. 

“The moment he finally told you, he loves you,” Rafael smirked.

“He didn’t have the chance. The sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on came rushing into my office, berating me for being late for lunch.”

“I wouldn’t say berating, more of an admonishing.” He chuckled.

“Well, either way. He asked me to lunch to talk. So I told him tomorrow, at Forlini’s.”

“You’re taking him to Forlini’s?” Rafael fake gasps. “The location where we fell in love? Where we had our first official-unofficial date? How dare you forsake the foreground of our love!” Olivia playfully smacked her boyfriend’s chest.

“That’s definitely _not_ where I fell in love with you.” She jokingly grimaced at the notion.

“Well, I did.” He pulled her closer, planting gentle kisses on her eyelids. “Under that God awful harsh florescent lighting of the bar. You were still the most beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on. And at that moment I knew I was monumentally fucked.” Liv pulls her boyfriend into a chaste kiss.

“And it only took you four years after that moment to ask me on a date.”

“Three and a quarter! Thank you very much.” He rolled his eyes, lacing their fingers together as he pulled her into their favorite deli.

“Did you tell him you were taken?” Raf tilts his head to the side, raising a single eyebrow.

“I am unsure how one should slip that piece of information into a five-minute conversation without sounding full of themselves or like a blatant asshole.”

“Simple. Try something like, ‘I found somebody new. I look at him the way I used to look at you. He touches me the way you want to, I know you do. I'm sorry, but I'm over you, I got somebody new.”

“Seems a little too poetic.”

“Not coming from you. It’ll be dry and stoic.” The couple slid into their booth near the back left corner.

“You expect me to say that? Word for word.”

“Precisely.” He pulls her body closer and she melts into his side, laying her head on his shoulder, his left arm secured around her waist.

* * *

“Olivia!” Liv, slowly cranes her neck toward the voice, her elbows still planted on the bar. She offers him a wordless simper. “We can find a booth maybe? The bar seems a bit impersonal.” He gestures to the open seating sprinkled randomly across the semi-busy establishment.

“I think we’re good here, for now.” She pats the barstool next to her.

“How are you, Liv?” His blue eyes peer deeply into her honey brown ones. It isn’t until this very moment she notices the graying of his hair, the presence of a salt and pepper beard, the worry lines etched into the details of his face.

“Um...I’m good, great actually.” She opens her mouth to detail her life with Rafael and Noah but decides against it. “How have you been?” She reciprocates the question out of mannerisms and slight curiosity.

“I’m fine.” He replies, unceremoniously. She raises an eyebrow at his tone. “I’m sorry. I feel like we wasted enough time, Liv. Enough with the small talk. Can we please skip the pleasantries and talk about what really needs to be addressed?”

“It's been a long time, you said you're doing fine, you don’t want the small talk...what else is there to discuss?” She leaned away from Elliot.

“C’mon, Liv. I know I've been on your mind.” He places his hand on top of hers.

“I see you haven't moved on.” She gave him an awkward tight-lipped smile.

“And you have?”

“You think I sat around and waited for you to decide you finally wanted me? Is it finally time to treat Olivia like a viable option? You miss me, now that I’m gone? No more emails, calls, texts, pleading for you to send me a sign of life. Now it’s my job to offer the olive branch?” She snorted.

“Olivia—no! That’s not it. I’m sorry that I left you. I’m sorry for the radio silence. I’m sorry that I kept putting you on the back burner. If I could change the past I would, in a heartbeat. I love you. I’ve loved you for years, decades even. I’ve tried to move on. But in the back of my mind, it’s always you. My mind and my heart scream that you’re the only one for me. You’re the love of my life, Liv.”

“It's not the same, Elliot. When you left you broke my heart. You took a piece of me with you. I’m not the same, you aren’t the same, we aren’t the same anymore. People grow and people change, a decade is a long time, now I love you in a _different_ way _._ Jesus, if you would’ve come back six or seven years ago, maybe we could’ve given us a shot. But...I’ve got somebody new. What am I supposed to do? Drop everything? The life I built? I have a son, Elliot. He loves his father. I love his father. After you broke me, Rafa stumbled into my life. He filled the void. He became my best friend. He listened to me, challenged me, he supports me, he helps me grow. I can’t say the same thing for us...we were toxic, El. We weren’t-no we aren’t good for each other.” She places a solemn arm on his shoulder.

“I didn’t know you were married, I’m so sorry Olivia.”

“We aren’t...yet.” She grins softly.

“I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for all the major fuck ups I’ve made. The decision to walk out of your life without even a simple goodbye has been the biggest regret of my life.” He places a gentle hand on her knee.

“All of our decisions have consequences, El. I’m sorry that I’m over you, but you’ll find someone. I pray you find someone who makes you as happy as Rafael makes me. I hope she opens not only your heart but challenges your mind. Don’t live your life dwelling on the past, Rafa taught me that. He taught me how to love again. And I sincerely hope you find that kind of love.” She squeezes his hand that lay on top of her knee.

Elliot opens his mouth to speak, but the words fail to leave his tongue.

“I forgave you a long time ago, Elliot. I couldn’t love, Rafael, if I hadn’t.”

“Maybe in another life?”

“Maybe.” Olivia kisses the top of his bare head as a final parting gesture. “Live a good and happy life, Elliot. For me.” With that, Olivia gathers her belongings and smiles softly as her goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> I was playing around with Olivia & Rafael's squabbling in the notes section of my phone & this happened. My writing isn't good, but I keep practicing to get better!
> 
> I hope someone enjoys my works, feedback and kudos are always wanted and welcomed!


End file.
